Peer to peer marketplace CustomMade has raised $2.1 million in Series A funding today, led by First Round Capital and Google Ventures with additional investment from Founder Collective, Launch Capital, Next View Ventures, Andrew McCollum and David Tisch.
Like Etsy’s Alchemy feature (now retired), CustomMade allows customers who want to make custom products like jewelry and furniture post project proposals, and it retains a community of makers that can browse through projects and assign themselves to ones they are suited to. Makers can sign up for and build profiles on the site, which allows customers to browse through their portfolios. The site has over 3,000 makers and has overseen over $2 million in project requests, averaging around $1,500 a job.
“A lot of people think that custom is expensive and out of reach, and that’s really not true any more,” says co-founder Mike Salguero, “There’s a lot of trade winds right now about buying local and buying green and supporting your local economy.”
“We see a large opportunity in technology platforms that can seamlessly connect consumers with the goods they want specifically designed for them,” said Google Ventures partner Rich Miner in a release, “By combining local artisans – from the custom furniture maker in New Mexico to the jewelry designer in Austin – to millions of shoppers around the country, CustomMade serves the need of a growing marketplace.”
CustomMade plans on using the funding to expand both its staff and site features, with the eventual goal of disrupting big box retail with its suite of personalized products.